WIP Wednesday for realsies + FO: Autumn Dewdrops Cowl

Works in Progress on a Wednesday at Big Knitting Trouble?  Escandelo!

But first: a delicate FO:

Lacey Small Shell Cowl [Rav] by Teyani; knit with a quarter skein of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Lace in colorway LP10 Red Rover

This uses up most of the leftover from the firework-looking shawl I finished earlier this year (the one that took forever and made me cry for several reasons) and the beads are a modification... I needed an excuse to keep using that beading gadget.  It really is genius.

I was trying to wait until September to cast on anything big, but this project couldn't wait:

This is meant for an excellent friend as she recovers from some excellent surgery (if you doubt that surgery can be excellent, then you don't know the kind of pain she's had to endure while waiting for it). It's a shawl, it's stripy, it's stashbusting, it's simple, it's soon-to-be-finished -- and not by me!  Another excellent friend, intrepid home-improver Jill Factotum, will be crocheting an edging (double the crafters, double the comfort) and we're doing the mathings today.

I won't get any HPKCHC points for it (started during break month, cowl already turned in for Detention points, only partially crafted by me), but that's kinda not the point at all, so I'm more than okay with it.

The blanket swatch has grown into this bowl-shaped beauty...

...and I can't believe I'm already halfway through the first (huge) chart.  My right arm can believe it, though; I'm getting some forearm twinges, and since my job is entirely computer-based, I need to slow the knitting down just a skosh to stay healthy enough to type.

The next three months are going to be slightly insane.
Insert self-pep-talk here.